The Crusaders Take Jerusalem by Storm, 15 July 1099
The situation at Mount Zion was quite different. Since Governor Iftikhar had predicted the Franks would launch their assault from Mount Zion, he had stationed the majority of his archers in that area of the city.
Like Godfrey, Count Raymond had overseen the construction of his own siege tower. However, he made one crucial mistake: he had it built within site of the Egyptian garrison and then chose that same area to launch an assault, so it came as no surprise to the Egyptions when the Provencals launched their assault. As they advanced their siege tower towards the wall, the Egyptians let loose a hail of arrows and firebombs on it. Their firebombs were a deadly mix of sulfur, pitch, wax and tow, and wrapped in rags and studded with nails so that they stuck to wherever they landed.
Count Raymond had grossly underestimated the strength of Jerusalem’s garrison and in doing so, he and his army were forced to retreat. Their retreat was humiliating and dispiriting to the Provençals, but probably even more so to Raymond. His already tarnished reputation and weak credibility as a military leader had been dealt with another blow. Yet, he was not going to give up.
The next morning, the Provençals advanced their siege tower once again, but to no avail. Firebombs and arrows rained down on them once more, setting their siege tower on fire. With no alternative strategy for assault, the Provençals retreated back to Mount Zion.
However, the two-frontal assault on Jerusalem was a strategic move on behalf of the Franks because it strained the Egyptians’ resources and, consequently left the northern wall undefended, vulnerable to enemy attack. Yet, the Egyptians were able to put up a mighty strong resistance. Though, as hard as they fought, they could not beat back Godfrey’s forces.
Godfrey and his men managed to haul their large siege tower up against the main wall, but the fighting was fierce. The Egyptians fired an endless number of arrows and firebombs at Godfrey and his men. They also used a deadly weapon that was similar to Greek fire, if not the same. What made it so deadly was the fact that it could not be extinguished by water.
During this stage of the siege and in this corner of Jerusalem, many men died on both sides. How then, confronted with an equally formidable foe, was Godfrey’s army able to breach the northern battlements near the Damascus Gate? The native Christians, of whom many had joined Godfrey’s forces, knew that vinegar was the only liquid that could put out Greek fire. Armed with this new knowledge, before the final assault, Godfrey filled several wineskins with vinegar and stacked them inside his portable siege tower; something Count Raymond likely did not do.
If it had not been for that one tidbit of information, there is a good chance the Franks might have been defeated. However, we mustn’t forget that, prior to the First Crusade, the Franks had been embroiled in wars against other Kingdoms in Europe and/or against the Emperor Alexius over control of the Balkans. For that reason, the Franks brought with them skill and expertise in the art of warfare. It was that skill and expertise that saved them from complete destruction and brought them to victory time and again since they set foot in the Middle East.
According to Raymond of Aguilers, “a youth shot arrows ablaze with cotton pads against the ramparts of the Saracens which defended against the wooden tower of Godfrey and the two counts. Soon mounting flames drove the defenders from the ramparts.” Raymond’s account proves how even timing is critical to an army’s success and timing was one strategy the Franks had mastered.
In that moment, as the Muslims escaped from the flames and the smoke, Godfrey hurriedly cut loose one of the wattle screens that protected the tower and turned it into a makeshift bridge. As his men clamored over the bridge and onto the ramparts, soldiers who had remained on the ground below, rushed forward with scaling ladders and scurried up the wall and onto the ramparts.
Realizing all was lost, the Egyptians fled. Some of them might have even jumped from the walls to their death. Count Raymond knew that the Christian army had won when he saw the Muslim defenders abandon their post. Determined to have a share in the booty and to claim a palace for himself, Raymond and all of his men hurried into the Holy City to join their fellow crusaders.
Sources Used
Asbridge, Thomas. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of The War For The Holy Land. New York; Ecco, 2011
Krey, August C. The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesss and Participants. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1921
Nicolle, David. The First Crusade 1096-99: Conquest of The Holy Land. Oxford; New York; Osprey Publishing, 2003
Stark, Rita M. Knights of the Cross: The Epic of the Crusades. Bloomington; iUniverse, 2008